[guardian-dev] Code License

Tue Jul 23 14:35:23 EDT 2013

The james/license.txt looks like a free license to me, but with one odd
requirement: "Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions, all files included with the source code, and
the following disclaimer." So that means the entirely source code of that
project needs to be included in the PixelKnot git repo.

The "in plain english" part looks like the Indepdendent JPEG Group's license:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#ijg

As for converting to Java, if the code was copying into Java, then yes, its
covered by copyright.  If the Java code was inspired by the C code, then it is
not bound by the C code's license.

.hc

On 07/23/2013 02:16 PM, Mark Belinsky wrote:
> It seems that we're compatible with the license and info that they include
> in most of the code:
> https://github.com/harlo/F5Android/blob/master/src/james/IJGreadme.txt
> https://github.com/harlo/F5Android/blob/master/src/james/license.txt
> 
> They both basically write "In plain English:"
> 
> 
> 1. We don't promise that this software works.  (But if you find any bugs,
>    please let us know!)
> 
> 2. You can use this software for whatever you want.  You don't have to pay us.
> 3. You may not pretend that you wrote this software.  If you use it in a
>    program, you must acknowledge somewhere in your documentation that
> 
>    you've used the IJG code.
> 
> I'm following up with them all, but also with the author of the
> original F5 Algo, Andreas Westfeld, as his code (if he indeed has code
> and not just theory), is not specifically broken out or labeled.
> 
> Question: if someone (Gaffga) converted all of Dr. Westfeld's f5 code
> into java, does he have a claim to it?
> 
> 
> 
> --*
> @mbelinsky <https://twitter.com/mbelinsky> | guardianproject.info | phone:
> +1-347-466-9327 | ostel: mark **| pgp:
> 0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA<http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA>
> *
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Hans-Christoph Steiner <
> hans at guardianproject.info> wrote:
> 
>>
>> Unfortunately with copyright law, "seems to be" is not good enough.
>> Everything is automatically copyrighted with "all rights reserved", that is
>> the default license.  If we want to continue working with the sources in
>> PixelKnot, then we should confirm that it is indeed Free Software.  The
>> best
>> way is to contact the author and get them to say so explicitly, and request
>> that the add a license to their sources.
>>
>> Otherwise, we might just be surprised some day to find out that the library
>> that we based the app off of has been taken away from us and turned
>> proprietary.
>>
>> .hc
>>
>> On 07/23/2013 12:10 PM, Mark Belinsky wrote:
>>> Some of the origin code is not specifically labeled, but seems to be
>> open.
>>> My concern is mostly with not being able to find the license of Ortega.
>>> However, f5, which incorporates it is GPL. Therefore, I've included all
>> the
>>> info on prior work and kept it GPL as the tools we're based on have
>> already
>>> claimed it.
>>>
>>> Here's what I'm pushing to git:
>>>
>>> /**
>>>  * This software is based in part on the work of
>>>  * James R. Weeks/BioElectroMech, james at obrador.com, and the Independent
>>>  * JPEG Group (package james)
>>>  * Sean Breslin/Dr. Ortega (package ortega)
>>>  *
>>>  * Original F5 Algo: Andreas Westfeld, westfeld at inf.tu-dresden.de,
>>> http://www.inf.tu-dresden.de/~aw4
>>>  * F5 Algo in Java: Christoph Gaffga, cgaffga at gmail.com,
>>> https://code.google.com/p/f5-steganography
>>>  * The rest of this software is released under the GPL
>>>  *
>>>  * PixelKnot is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
>>>  * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
>>>  * version 3 (GPLv3) as published by the Free Software Foundation.
>>>  *
>>>  * PixelKnot is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
>>>  * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
>>>  * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
>>>  * GNU General Public License for more details.
>>>  *
>>>  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
>>>  * along with this program; if not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/ or
>>> write to the Free Software
>>>  * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
>>>  02110-1301, USA
>>> **/
>>>
>>>
>>> --*
>>> @mbelinsky <https://twitter.com/mbelinsky> | guardianproject.info |
>> phone:
>>> +1-347-466-9327 | ostel: mark **| pgp:
>>> 0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA<
>> http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA>
>>> *
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 11:39 AM, Hans-Christoph Steiner <
>>> hans at guardianproject.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> In general, GPLv3 is the most compatible license, so easiest to use with
>>>> other
>>>> licenses. Check the licenses of the other software included in
>> PixelKnot to
>>>> make sure its GPLv3 compatible.  There are some free software licenses
>> that
>>>> are not, like early versions of Apple's license (APSL), projects marked
>>>> "GPLv2
>>>> ONLY" like the Linux kernel, etc.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html#GPLIncompatibleLicenses
>>>>
>>>> .hc
>>>>
>>>> On 07/23/2013 10:14 AM, Mark Belinsky wrote:
>>>>> We just got a request for Pixelknot to be more explicit about the
>> license
>>>>> it's under. I imagine that we should probably put that at the end of
>> each
>>>>> project readme on github, as well as a file. Right now, I think we only
>>>>> have https://guardianproject.info/code/licenses/, which doesn't detail
>>>> it.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can add GPL to Orweb.
>>>>>
>>>>> I imagine that PixelKnot is to also be licensed under GPL v3? Or are
>>>> there
>>>>> any restrictions from the code that we used?
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>> Mark
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --*
>>>>> @mbelinsky <https://twitter.com/mbelinsky> | guardianproject.info |
>>>> phone:
>>>>> +1-347-466-9327 | ostel: mark **| pgp:
>>>>> 0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA<
>>>> http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xEFBFA7278D8EFFDA>
>>>>> *
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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